I was wrong when I suggested a couple of days ago that winter was upon us here in Key West. It is still warm! Yesterday the temperature hit 84! The only difference in recent weeks is that air conditioning is no longer required. The breeze off the ocean is sufficient cooling.

Yesterday was doctor day!

I started with my internest in the morning.

Afterwards, it was off to the gym. I am committed. Boxed and did the treadmill. I increase the frequency of both a bit each day. I am impressed with the treadmill activity. Up to 3.5 miles per hour with an elevation of 3.5-4.0. Not bad!

I am always thirsty after working out. Don’s Place fortunately is next door.

I seem to have joined the breakfast club. But I only drink water!

Rob was bartending. He gave me water without my even having to ask.

Herschel was sitting at the bar. I joined him. Herschel plays on my bocce team. He fell at bocce last week. Hurt his ankle. It still hurts!

He had his leg propped up on a bar stool. The toes were all black and blue as was the bottom part of his heel. I said you have a fracture. He said no. He takes blood thinners and that is why there is so much blood pooling. He went to a chiropractor. Did not see a doctor. I think he should see a doctor and get it x-rayed.

I spent the early part of the afternoon under the tiki hut. Writing. Terri was with me. She was practicing Christmas caroles for her thursday night show at La Te Da’s Crystal Room. I am lucky to have her company and be able to listen to her sing so much.

Then it was 3 o’clock. Time to see the heart doctor. That visit ate up 1 1/2 hours. Part of it spent waiting.

I spent the evening in. Made myself a light dinner. Then sat outside on the deck by the water. In the dark. Quiet. The only sound was the moving water. And an occasional fish breaking the surface. Meditative time. Good for thinking.

The Christmas season is upon us. Homes and stores decorated. Key Westers decorate their homes more brilliantly than up north. Maybe it is the lack of snow. Something compels them to go all out.

The grandkids are into it, also. Robert and Ally started telephoning me yesterday. Key West’s Christmas parade is Saturday night. Poppa, are you going with us? Of course! I attend with them every year!

It is a terrific parade! Long. Santa at the end. The best part and the reason the grandkids love it so much is the candy. A ton of candy is thrown off the floats to the kids. A Fantasy Fest parade for the little ones! Beads replaced by candy!

Speaking of Christmas, Lisa’s internet Key West department store has many goodies for sale. Reasonably priced Christmas gifts. www.viakeywest.com.

Lisa has a new batch of Key West Lou tee shirts. Her biggest seller!

We have been lucky this year. No hurricanes!

Today is the last day of November. The official end of hurricane season. It is nice to have gotten a break!

Enjoy your day!

Sunday started slowly.

A quiet relaxing day.

And then the night!

I was out on the town!

Finally made it to the Gardens again. Glad I did. The place was packed. Many old friends. Many new faces. Kate Miano has done a tremendous job!

Met Reed. He was in town for a short visit. He was performing with the ensemble.

Reed presently lives in New Hampshire. The last time he was in Key West was the early 1980s. Key West has changed, he said.

He told me any activity on Duval Street ended at Petronia. Now Duval is loaded with action all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Terri sang. Her reception was amazing! Always the same! A standing ovation at the end!

What a talent!

Then to LaTrattoria for dinner.

Ate at the bar. Charming Kathy bartending. Her Thanksgiving went well. She entertained at her home for dinner. She had been nervous. However everything turned out perfectly!

Becha gave me a hug and kiss. She had just returned from Las Vegas. Spent Thanksgiving there. Had a terrific time!

Mick Barnes said hello. One of Key West’s premier attorneys. We lamented that Marty was not spending more time in Key West.

Nine o’clock was the Larry Smith Sunday Showcase at the Pier House. His special guest was his wife, Christine Cardone. A Key West star in her own right.

It was Christine’s birthday. The Wine Galley was packed. Inside and out. Everyone there to pay tribute to Christine. One of Key West’s most loved people!

Christine sang. The marvelous Kathleen Peace backed her up.

Kathleen is a new woman! She has been on a diet. It was obvious.

John and Ellie were in the audience. They are from England. Visit Key West every year about this time. Spend a month here.

John and Ellie read this blog every day. Gives them their nip of Key West while away.

Since it was Christine’s birthday, there had to be a cake. A huge one!

We all gathered round the cake to sing Happy Birthday! As Christine went to blow out the candles, a male body leaped up out of the cake! Stripped to the waist. Wild!

It was Adair. Adair is a local trainer and body builder. So he has the body to leap out of a cake.

No one expected it. It was a fun thing and added to the hilarity of the evening.

How Adair got under the table and was hidden from all, I do not understand. I was seated by the door and watched Alex and Tino carry the table out. Obviously, Alex and Tino were instrumental in planning and arranging the Adair bit.

Journey was in attendanced also. Journey is Christine’s daughter. She is an entertainer in the Woodstock area. She was here for her Mother’s birthday. Journey added flavor to the event.

It was a very good evening!

Today, I have two doctor visits. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. I have learned that that is what one does in his old age. Visit doctors!

Enjoy your day!

Sunday!

Always a good day!

Much to do in Key West. My choices are the gym, Don’s Place for pro football watching and socializing, the Gardens with Kate Miano, and tonight Lary Smith’s Sunday Showcase. Today is Larry’s wife Christine’s birthday! Christine and Kathleen Peace will sing. There will be a huge crowd. Christine is a loved woman.

Yesterday started with the gym for me. A little boxing and some treadmill. A work out!

Afterwards, I walked next door to Don’s Place for a drink of water. Boomer bartending. I asked for water. He looked at me strangely. I repeated myself. Water. Still no reaction. Finally, he knew I was serious. He gave me water. I don’t think he realized I drink no more. No one orders water in Don’s Place. Especially in the morning. His breakfast club is Don’s busiest time of the day!

Then to Publix to shop. Cupboard bare again. Must be mine was the only one empty. Publix was deserted. People must have done all their shopping earlier in the week for Thanksgiving.

The early part of the afternoon was spent writing. With music in the background. Terri was polishing Joy to the World for next Thursday’s show at La Te Da.

Lisa, Corey and the grandkids arrived. Robert and Ally wanted to swim. I tried to dissuade them. The water is cold. There was a cool breeze. No one listened. They swam. The cold did not seem to affect them.

Key West weather has been perfect up to the last few days. Unusually warm. We should be entering winter here. We might be. It is starting to get a bit cool. Temperatures still hovering around 80. But the cool breeze off the ocean negates the temperature a bit. I think we are heading into cooler weather on a permanent basis. Means the low 70s.

It’s a tough life here in Key West!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Fantastic weather!

A good time to be in Key West!

The radio show went well yesterday. Comments after the show indicated a great interest in airport security. Makes sense. Just about all of us fly.

“Don’t touch my junk!” is becoming famous. I suspect it will be with us for many years to come.

I have no problem with what is being done. I would rather be felt up, than blown up! Simple. To those who find these new methods offensive, I say don’t fly! I would rather be safe than sorry. Sorry means I am no more.

I stopped at Lee Nails for a manicure after the show. Tammy was there. I enjoy Tammy. A mid 20s Vietnamese who has been in the U.S. for eight years. She and her husband own the business.

I asked her about her Thanksgiving. Did she have turkey? No. She does not know how to cook one. She and her friends did get together to celebrate the holiday, however. They cooked Vietnamese food.

Terri’s Thanksgiving opening at La Te Da’s Crystal Room was a gigantic success! A packed house! Terri was thrilled. As was Donna.

Terri’s next show at the Crystal Room is thursday. She is adding a couple of Christmas tunes to the program. It is Christmas time around my house! We have gone from Broadway tunes to Christmas caroles.

The ladies and I went out last night. To the Tennessee Williams Lobby for a new Key West show. Michael McCabe and Traci Reynolds plus several others have put together a show called Cabaret Key West. All kinds of music! Great singing! Terrific humor! A winner!

The show will be running two nights a week at La Te Da. Sundays after tea dance and tuesday evenings. Try it on for size one evening.

Jenna joined Donna, Terri and I for the evening. We had a good time at our table during the performance.

I am off to the gym this morning. Missed two consecutive days. Time to work off the Thanksgiving meal!

Enjoy your day!

Thanksgiving great yesterday!

What a meal!
Lisa did terrific!
I ate it all! So did everyone else!
Robert and Ally were fun. They behaved like young adults. We talked at the dinner table.
I have been dieting for six weeks. High protein. Lost 15 pounds. Blew it yesterday. Went carb crazy. Stuffings, potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, whipped cream, etc. Today, I return to being a good boy!
This morning is the Key West Lou Legal Hour. A terrific show planned. Topics like airport security, Don’t touch my junk!, Tom Delay conviction, a federal judge who got involved with a stripper and drugs, and more.
Show time is 10 am. Listen in the Florida Keys and Cuba at 1500 on the KONK AM dial. Better yet, watch and listen on the internet world wide at www.konkam.com.
Enjoy your day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am spending the day with Lisa and Corey and the grandkids. Dinner at 3. Can’t wait. Love holidays!

I have the turkey in my refrigerator. As soon as I finish this blog, the turkey and pan get delivered to Lisa.

A little Thanksgiving history.

We all think Thanksgiving got its start in 1621 in Plymouth with the Pilgims and Indians. It did not.

There was a dinner. The Pilgims were happy to have survived almost a year. They invited the Indians to join them. The party lasted three days. Research tells us they devoured 4 fowl and 5 deer. There were no pumpkin pies. They were out of flour.

The event is described as a “gathering.”

George Washington was the first to come up with the idea for a day of thanksgiving. It was 1776. Thanksgiving was celebrated one time. Some did not like the idea. One being Thomas Jefferson. Politics even then.

It was actually Abraham Lincoln who gave us Thanksgiving.

It was 1863. Lincoln felt good. The Civil War was going well. He had a new general, Ulysses Grant, who had been successful in several battles. The Emancipation Proclamation was a fact. He thought it was time to celebrate with a national day of thanksgiving.

Lincoln therefore proclaimed the last thursday in November as a National Holiday of Thanksgiving.

And it was from that time forward that we as a Nation commenced celebrating Thanksgiving.

Congress got into the act in 1941. It took them a long time to recognize a good thing. But they finally did. In 1941, Congress sanctioned the fourth thursday in Novemebr as a day of Thanksgiving.

So it was not the Pilgims, but Lincoln to whom is owed the warm family holiday of Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow is friday. Friday is radio show time. The Key West Lou Legal Hour.

10 am. Listen on the radio in the Florida keys and Cuba at KONK 1500 AM. Better yet, watch and listen world wide on the internet at www.konkam.com.

A timely show. Topics include a bit on Thanksgiving, airport security, two new American heroes,
Haiti and American dollars, lead and cadmium in drinking glasses, Tom Delay convicted, Judge Camp and a stripper, sex and female slaves, a New York mosque update, Mark Twain and journalism, greedy and greedier, a Judge’s wife resigns, Teddy Roosevelt and a famous saying, college tuition for illegal immigrants, Sarah Palin’s new book America by Heart, and more.

A full plate! Interesting and informative! Join me!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

There is no joy in Mudville…..mighty Casey has struck out!

That is how it was last night at bocce. We got our asses whipped!

Larry Smith’s team won all 3 games. I played in the first two. We only scored 4 and 3 points in those games.

Such is life!

Lunch was a happier time.

I was at Montessori sharing Ally’s Thanksgiving with her and her class. The kids sang. Then the big turkey dinner! The kids all sat at little tables. Were served turkey and all the trimmings.

You could see in their faces how happy they were!

Ally was an Indian. Cute!

As I left, she ran over and grabbed my legs and hugged me. Would not let go!

Love it! Love her!

This morning golf. After last night, I make no predictions.

Enjoy your day!

Key West weather continues to be spectacular!

I overslept. It is 9 in the morning.

The sun is bright. A few scattered white clouds. A breeze. The water blue and gliding along.

What could be better!

It was the gym for me yesterday morning. I am working out longer. My endurance is building. I boxed and did the treadmill.

Afterwards, I walked over to Don’s Place. For a glass of water. Rob bartendiong. We chatted briefly about golf.

The cupboard was bare again. So to Publix. A mistake. The wrong time.

I only had to pick up a few things. Everyone else was shopping for Thanksgiving. The aisles were crowded. People a bit testy. It was not a fun place to be.

I spent the afternoon outside sitting under the shade of the tiki hut writing. Terri was outside on the deck also. Singing and dancing about. I could almost do her show!

Then a nap. I try to get one in late every afternoon. A rejuvenator at my age!

Dinner with Jenna last night. At La Trattoria. Kathy bartending. Business slow.

Jenna and I spent a while after dinner sitting at the bar talking. She is an experienced TV personality. She is helping me with my radio show. I am trying to make it better.

Today is a big day! In about 2 hours!

Ally is in kindergarten at Montessori. The pre schoolers and kindergarten kids have their Thanksgiving party at 11. The children will sing and do skits. They will be dressed as Pilgrims and Indians. Then the big feast! Parents cook a whole Thanksgiving meal and bring it to the school. There will be many stuffed turkeys, sweet potatoes, vegetables, pumpkin pies and chocolate pies. Just as good as thursday’s meal will be!

When the kids are done eating, the adults jump in. Lunch will be terrific!

Donna and Terri are going also. Donna has 5 grandchildren living in Key West. Three have already been through the Montessori process. So she is old hat at this. Her fourth is 2 1/2 and attending pre school. This will be Terri’s first time. She is all excited!

Tonight, bocci. I know. It is tuesday. Bocce is thursday. However the season is over. We have two make up matches. One tonight.

We are playing Larry Smith’s team. It is a money match. Larry’s team is better than us this season. However, we hope to knock them off.

Enjoy your day!

Good morning!

A lovely Key West day!

The weather has been around 80 the past few days. With a firm breeze off the ocean. The breeze negates the heat. The end result is that air conditioning is not required. I have not used air conditioning for at least a week. Sleep with the windows open at night.

Perfect!

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Other than watching Meet the Press yesterday, I never did anything I intended.

I stayed in all day. Never left the property.

It felt good to do it.

I read the Sunday papers outside by the pool and under the tiki hut. Watched the boats go by. Chatted with Donna and Terri. And continued to enjoy Terri preparing for her Thanksgiving opening at La Te Da’s Crystal Room Thanksgiving evening. Terri sings and tap dances around the deck.

Being a star performer is not easy. It is preparation, preparation, preparation. All to make it look so effortless when finally done.

After I ran out of Sunday papers to read, I did a little writing.

Last night, television.

A lazy day. I must have needed it. I enjoyed it.

Enjoy your today!

I am overwhelmed! God must be overwhelmed also!

Thank you for the many responses offering a prayer for my cousin, Sister Rose Garramone.

I was back to the gym yesterday. Boxed for 15 minutes. The gym has a new heavy bag. Just the right weight and size. I enjoyed it.

Then the treadmill.

What a good boy am I!

Afterwards, I stopped at Don’s Place for a drink of water. I was dry from the workout and probably a bit dehydrated. Don cannot make money off me. When I am drinking, it is diet Coke. He only charges for the first one. A $1. The rest are free.

I purchased some books for the grandkids. Stopped over and gave them to them. A cut out doll book for Ally. One of those where you also cut out the clothes and attach them to the doll. For Robert, it was the same thing. Except it was planes and space ships.

I spent some time at the Coffee House. Read the New York Times.

Wrote a bit later in the afternoon.

Then decided to stay in last night. A light dinner and some TV.

I was out friday night. Met Marty and his charming wife Donna at the Chart Room. We had dinner at the Hot Tin Roof. Always good.

Host John was nervous. He is a Wisconsin grad. Wisconsin is ranked #5 nationally in football. They were playing Michigan yesterday.

I see from the score that John should not have been concerned. Wisconsin destroyed Michigan!

I continue to live in a rehearsal studio. Terri keeps practicing for her La Te Da Crystal Room opening Thanksgiving evening. She sings and tap dances. In doors and out doors on the deck. More Than You Know and Blue Skies permeated the property.

Sunday!

Love sundays!

Meet thee Press, Don’s Place and the Gardens. Hopefully I will make the Gardens tonight. And in between, the gym. I may miss pro football at Don’s Place. Basketball is upon us. Syracuse plays William and Mary at 2. If I can watch the basketball game at the Sports Page bar, that is where I will be.

My radio show The Key West Lou Legal Hour from a week ago is available for demand viewing on video at www.tikilive.com/video/28369.

Enjoy your day!